We have a reservation at Boucherie. We have been to many of the New Orleans staples (August, Galatoires, Commanders, MiLa, and we already have lunch reservations at Coquette) and wanted to try something new for dinner. Thoughts? It would be our only upscale dinner, so we'd like for it be special. Root and Pesche both have reservations available for that evening. Would either be a better choice? We aren't necessarily looking for "New Orleans" cuisine, but just the best food.

Or we could abandon the fine dining all together, have a bite at Three Muses, and gets some Taceaux Loceaux in Dos Jefes.

There are many differing opinions on Willie Mae's, but mine is squarely in the "I just died and went to heaven eating this fried chicken" camp. And I have eaten some fried chicken in my life. We try to eat at Willie Mae's every time we are in town. If you don't get good fried chicken where you live, I do not think you will be disappointed. The sides are definitely just approaching average, though, so don't worry too much about that. You will be busy stuffing your face with chicken anyway.

But you can't go wrong listening to any of the regulars on this board. They have never steered me wrong, and I think are some of the most knowledgeable posters on Chowhound period.

Thank you for the wonderful report! I often feel like the non-sushi dishes (or non-traditional sushi dishes) are what set Uchi and Uchiko apart. Hubs and I used to order what is our standard sushi at Uchi (sake toro, tuna), and were unimpressed. Finally went with a friend who ordered for us, and it was like an entirely different restaurant. Now I must go to Taco Rico! I'm glad you enjoyed your time in the city, and come back soon!

I read this thread several times, but I don't see where you state why you can't bring a recyclable bag to the store. I am just curious for the reason? The plastic bags are not that easy to handle balance-wise, for me. I have one recyclable bag that rolls up to fit in my pocket, so it's not a matter of taking up too much space. Why wouldn't that be a better option? (I'm truly asking, not being snarky.)

I see further down that you don't drive. As I said, I have a recyclable bag that folds up to an extremely small size, but I guess maybe that wouldn't carry all your groceries.

I just don't understand why this is such a big deal to some people. We used reusable bags already, so it wasn't much of a change for us. I have one of the HEB hefty plastic bags for meat only. I can't imagine how this would make you fatter or eat less healthy unless spending $1 to buy a reusable bag would be a huge problem for you (I've gotten 5 free ones just this past week with various purchases). I do wash mine periodically, because they get gross. It's unfortunate HEB does not recycle plastic anymore, but my dry cleaners still takes plastic, so I take everything there.

I used to work in waste management, and before I did, I really had no idea how much trash exists on this planet that is never going away (much less just our city). There is no room for it. It literally kept me up at night. So I feel like any step, no matter how small, in eliminating some of that waste can only be a good thing.

I can imagine this could be a bit challenging if you didn't drive, though. I do have a super small bag that I roll up and put in my purse or pocket, but I can see not wanting to carry it in your pocket 24/7 if you didn't carry a purse. : )

We went to New Orleans in May and had a lovely lunch at R'evolution with excellent service. The food was excellent as were the cocktails. Given the comments on this board, I'm thinking maybe Monday lunch is the thing to do (this is actually what we did). Get the experience without dropping so much cash. We are the biggest fans of Coquette, and we ate their twice - once for lunch and once for brunch and my all-time favorite biscuits and gravy (mainly because I don't like biscuits and gravy but loved these). It's a lovely dining room, service is good, but not overly formal, cocktails are excellent. It's one of my favorite places anywhere for any meal. We are definitely going for dinner next trip. We had dinner at Atchafalaya. Appetizers and desserts were exceptional (that red velvet cake they get from Mississippi is crazygood), but the entrees were average at best. Plus service was off (direct complaints about a long shift besides general unfriendliness) and the manager somewhat offputting. So I would agree it's not worth the cab ride (but that cake...). As far as street food goes, if you happen to be somewhere close to the Taceaux Loceaux truck, they are turning out some excellent tacos, and I have eaten some tacos in my time.

This was lovely. And I agree about New Orleans being an easy and wonderful place to converse with people. When people ask me what I like about the city (which I try to go to at least once a year), I always say the people first, and then their wonderful, wonderful food. You gave me some new places to try out.

I'd skip lunch at Bangers and go to Easy Tiger and get the New York board. The pastrami is amazing. I just wasn't that impressed with Bangers. I was similarly underwhelmed with East Side King at Hole in the Wall (I think the ESK at Liberty Bar is considerably better; the ramen at HITW pales in comparison to Ramen Tatsu-ya, which unfortunately is not open for lunch). I would support BBQ or Tex Mex for that slot. Overall, your list is solid. I really liked Sway a lot, so I don't think you can go wrong there. I've only been to Congress once. I thought it was quite formal/stuffy compared to other Austin restaurants at similar price points and compared to the other types of restaurants you're looking at. Agree that Barley Swine is an excellent addition, too.

I've looked lots of times, but not lately (as in the past month or so). Maybe they're opening up more times than they have in the past. Personally, I think that's great news! One of the reasons we end up at Uchiko instead of Uchi is that I've always had better luck with reservations there.

The sushi bar and tables are all first come, first serve, so it isn't necessarily easier to get one or the other, although being flexible (as in being willing to eat at either) will open up more possibilities. After 6 on Thurs-Sat you're going to have a wait regardless of where you are willing to sit. In my experience, Uchi does not have many reservations available after 5:30. Patience is a virtue. The earlier you can get there, the better off you will be.

We are coming to New York for my birthday in October. Uncharacteristically, I am having a lot of trouble deciding where to eat for my main celebratory meal. I have narrowed it down to four choices, all seem fairly different. (And EMP is not on the list because we've eaten there already.) We really like any food done well, and all my choices seem to have something to recommend them highly. My favorite meals of all time are at places where, regardless of formality, the staff makes you feel at home.

My choices are:

The Modern (nice menu in a lovely setting)Le Bernardin (The classic. I have eaten at Blue, Eric Ripert's restaurant in Grand Cayman, and liked it a lot. I noticed at least a couple of the dishes are the same at Le Bernardin. I've read the service can be stuffy - true? Formal is okay, stuffy not so much for me. This would probably be my first choice typically, but I can't shake the feeling I'm missing out on some other wonderful meal, for no real reason.)NoMad (the chicken for two looks amazing)Jungsik (I'm intrigued by the whole menu)

Which one would you choose? We also have a pre-theater meal we can squeeze in the following evening, if that helps. Thanks so much.

You're right about Commander's. One Mother's Day when I was there Sandra Bullock was there too. You'd never know it by the way they treated us (except one waiter telling us who the nice/bitchy celebrities are - which was fun!).

I had a really lovely dinner at MiLa in October. It doesn't get the attention of some of the other restaurants (I think maybe because of the hotel-esque interior design), but they serve excellent food and are worth checking out.

I just got back from using our Groupon at Braise and had an overall nice experience. Two of us started with the sausage and grits, which were extremely flavorful. I did not find the grits to be watery at all, so maybe they changed them up? My sister and BIL had the sashimi. I didn't try it, but it looked lovely and they liked it quite a bit (we're big fans of Uchi, so we're not completely clueless about sashimi.). I had the pumpkin bisque for a second. It was strong, but rich and really lovely. I can't say too much about the entree. I've been fighting a mad case of food poisoning and had pretty much reached my maximum capacity at that point. Still, I liked my brussell sprouts and mushrooms well enough to take them home. Everyone else devoured their entrees. Desserts were the only weak spot. I thought neither the pineapple upside down cake nor the chocolate chip bread pudding were very inspired or unique. Service was competent, and I didn't feel any groupon stigma. Was it Uchi or Parkside? No. Is it a place I'll try again when I want a casual tasty meal? Absolutely. All four of us agreed we'd definitely go back. I'm sorry you had a bad experience amysue, and I'm grateful we didn't repeat.

I asked a server in Austin about a bottle of wine, and she said, "Let me get.....the wine guy. He has a special name." We couldn't decide if she was high or drunk, but for what it was worth, the sommelier was quite competent. Regardless, we all lost our minds laughing.

I think you should 100% make it to Green Goddess. If you're a food person, I really think you'll love it. I haven't been to Bayona in several years, but I really liked it (just so many places to go), and haven't really heard anyone who's had a bad experience there.